Robert Scoble has been at 13 events

Hot on the heels of Olympus' announcement of the new version of one of the best-selling cameras in the mirrorless segment, the OM-D EM-5, we are hosting a special panel discussion about it. Among our guests there will be @117532820310402371002 of mirrorlessons.com, who just published his review, @101192074672321711384 of mirrorlessjourney.com, and others.
Tune in at 4PM CET/3PM UK/9AM Eastern to hear all about this new exciting camera.

UPDATE: We're now live on air! Join us with Robert Scoble here: https://plus.google.com/events/clamgmumluo8fn1p774oobqeeg4
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Robert Scoble has a sixth sense when it comes to technology conferences, but for most of us maximising ROI at a tech conference can be a perplexing challenge. Robert is going to share some of his insider knowledge from his vast experience on how to better plan in advance, execute on the day, and improve follow up from tech conferences.
Join the community for this 30 minute hangout this Monday 6th October at 5pm Dublin time (GMT +1).
We will be sharing the link to the hangout in this event 1 hour before it's due to go on air.

@104987932455782713675 and I are talking about how the filters work on Facebook and why they aren't as nice to photographers as Google+ is.
Which got me a ton of questions about my feed, and what I'm seeing/learning about how the filters work and how to "game" them to get things through to more people's feeds on Facebook.
I'm linking to here from Facebook, so there.

Join Racker @101507051046049574782 on this week's @100698655987920162334 Office Hours Hangout as we discuss Mobile Strategy and the impact that the mobile movement is having on business and technology! We will be joined by a hand full of Rackers with experience in our Mobile approach as well as the broader mobile development world!
We are looking forward to discussing the importance of developing a mobile strategy as well as some practical tips and lessons learned from our organization! So bring your questions to this interactive hangout.﻿

I am hanging out with Jeff Stevens. Back in the 1980s he was the first CTO on Wall Street, when he worked for Merrill Lynch. Today he's keeping abreast of contextual technologies and Bluetooth Smart Beacons, and we have a discussion about where businesses could use such.

Come join @100698655987920162334's Startup Liaison Officer @111091089527727420853 and Rackers @101507051046049574782 and @100903393398867345579 as they discuss the ways that Cloud Computing has changed the business and technology of Startup Culture.
This will be a live Hangout On Air, and will include a Question and Answer session. Bring your questions for Robert and the team.

Join Robert Scoble and Shel Israel for the launch of their new book, Age of Context, which is about how sensors, wearable computers, machine learning, social, and location data are changing our world, our privacy, and bringing us highly assistive and personalized products and services.
Everyone is invited. To RSVP, please visit EventBrite at http://ageofcontext.eventbrite.com/

It’s a scary but exciting world for newspaper owners right now, especially if you’re in a selling mood. Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, bought the Washington Post last week (while our podcast was on vacation — great timing!), and Red Sox owner John Henry bought the Boston Globe before that. As newspapers continue to struggle to raise advertising or subscription revenue, will the journalism industry be aided or hindered when it’s owned by billionaires? Special guests Nick Wingfield from the New York Times and Jack Shafer from Reuters join this week’s episode of the Mediatwits. MediaShift’s +Mark Glaser hosts, along with Mónica Guzmán from the Seattle Times and GeekWire, Ana Marie Cox from the Guardian and Andrew Lih from American University.

Google Glass could have a transformative effect on journalism. But it’s important to examine the shortfalls as well as all the great new advancements, both real and prophesied. Special guests +Tim Pool of Vice, +Robert Scoble of Rackspace, +Sarah Hill of Veterans United, +Jeff Jarvis of CUNY and +Robert Hernandez of USC will join our roundtable. They are all early adopters of Google Glass as well as social media and journalism experts, and will talk about their experiences with the device and what they see as its strengths and weaknesses for the future of journalism. MediaShift’s +Mark Glaser hosts, along with +Ana Marie Cox from the Guardian and +Andrew Lih of American University.

*Meeting Time:* 5:30 PM PT on May 14
*Meeting/Starting Location:* http://goo.gl/maps/6u1gq - Yerba Buena Gardens - in the grassy area in front of the waterfalls
*Route Map:* http://goo.gl/maps/oYzA9
*Ending Location:* Union Square on the Geary Street Side
*Hashtag:* #GlassPhotoWalk
*How to Win Google Glass:* This will be a random selection for people at the PhotoWalk. At the Photowalk you will given a ticket with unique number. Hold onto that ticket! Look for @118191303233704861327 to get yours! At the end of the photowalk we will draw a random winner from the tickets that were handed out. To be elegible to win Google Glass you must be 18 years or older (bring ID), a US Resident with proof of residency, and be present to win when we call your number!
Join @104987932455782713675 and @105237212888595777019 for a once-in-a-lifetime free event! If you've never been to a photowalk, this will be a great one. We'll help teach you more about photography and you can join in the fun! Bring a friend or come alone. It's a family-friendly event, and we look forward to seeing you!
*The Plan*: Look, it's possible security may throw us out of our meeting spot right away, and I may not be able to jump up on a bench and give my Mussolini-esque speech. If that happens, here is the plan:
- _Focus on PhotoWalkers:_ - Even though we'll be taking photos of the city as we weave through it on our route, it's OPEN SEASON on other PhotoWalkers! Take all sorts of photos of your fellow walkers, and later, tag away. Get close, get far, get creative!
- _Photo Lessons_ - I'll be stopping a few times throughout the walk to set up for shots. I'll talk through my settings and describe my setup. People are welcome to look through my camera.
- _Need Photo Advice_ - Come up any time throughout the walk and ask me or Thomas anything! We're happy to help. No question is too dumb, and we are happy to help!
- _Sharing_ - Get back home to the sweet internet after the event and upload your photos to the event. Tag people in the photos, and tag the photos with #GlassPhotowalk
We'll have a TON more details soon... this will be a great celebration of photography!
*Watch Live:* Can't make it? @112471890387110967375 will be hosting a @106837773805813749834 session. I'll share it live to my stream too!
*What to Bring:* Any camera will do - from a mobile phone to a big DSLR. It's all good! :)
*Party Mode:* Put your Android or iPhone into Party Mode for the event! This means photos you take will be auto-uploaded to the event! Just see this video at http://goo.gl/VA858 in case you don't know how to do this.

*The Science of Photography*
Digital photography offers amazing flexibility to capture and modify images. But how does the science of photography actually work? What are the basic principles of light, and how do they affect how photographers shoot? How do different cameras and lenses capture images differently? And how do software tools change the way those images are ultimately viewed?
Come to this Hangout On Air with +Trey Ratcliff, the world-class photographer whose work is displayed at StuckInCustoms.com. He will be interviewed by +Robert Scoble, well-known blogger, technology analyst, and amateur photographer, as well as our very own Google Student Ambassadors. Here's your chance to learn about the science behind those amazing images.
Have questions for our guests? Post comments on Google+ with #GSF2013.
Tuesday, May 7, 2:00PM PT / 4:00PM CT / 5:00PM ET / 2200 GMT / 2300 CE / 900 NZT (8 May)
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*Find out more about the #GSF2013 Hangout series:* goo.gl/H0pNq
*Official Google Science Fair website:* http://goo.gl/FU1hy

Most comments: 151

First, some of you might know who I'm talking about. Please don't post his name or other identifying information here unless he uncloaks here. I don't want this to be about him. Even though he's been writing about me on his blog (which I learned because lots of people read both of us).

Damn, that hurt. This is a guy I know well, I won't go into it more than that. But I looked at why it hurt for the past few days and thought I would share what I learned about myself.

My son, +Patrick Scoble, told me "you both are difficult," while trying to get us both to calm down. So, this is a learning opportunity.

This guy has his reasons for blocking me, in looking at my behavior, I don't agree with him, but that doesn't really matter in the end analysis. Now that the fr... more »

Most plusones: 579

After two months off of posting to the Internet I am coming back tonight. Here's a little photo story from a portion of our family trip where we drove 5,000 miles through six states. All of this was automatically done by Google+. Love it!﻿

This morning Rackspace announced a deal with Intel to work on OpenStack. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rackspace-collaborates-with-intel-to-accelerate-openstack-enterprise-feature-development-and-adoption-2015-07-23-12173032 This is significant, because both Intel and Rackspace are pouring new resources into OpenStack, which will mean good things for our customers.

Yesterday I visited Facebook to get a look at how Oculus Rift is going in an off-the-record meeting. But, what I saw yesterday showed me there is an infinite need for new software to be written by many companies around the world. Soon we’ll be playing and working together in virtual worlds and t... more »

My 16th newsletter. Life and Tech: The disruption Continues.

Subscribe to this email newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5

And with that I really am on vacation until August 5th.

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This morning Rackspace announced a deal with Intel to work on OpenStack. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rackspace-collaborates-with-intel-to-accelerate-openstack-enterprise-feature-development-and-adoption-2015-07-23-12173032 This is significant, because both Intel and Rackspace are pouring new resources into OpenStack, which will mean good things for our customers.

Yesterday I visited Facebook to get a look at how Oculus Rift is going in an off-the-record meeting. But, what I saw yesterday showed me there is an infinite need for new software to be written by many companies around the world. Soon we’ll be playing and working together in virtual worlds and those worlds will need new things built for them. They won’t all run on Facebook’s datacenters (not to mention Valve, Sony, and Samsung, among others, who are working on competitors, as you know if you've been reading my recent newsletters).

Earlier this week I ran the closing session at AppNation’s IoT Influencers Summit, where a panel of VIPs wrapped up an interesting day talking about innovations from farming to jewelry. http://iotinfluencers.com/siliconvalley/agenda/

Over the weekend I was at a camp hosted by the founder of Coral Group, http://www.coralgrp.com/ Yuval Almog and Israel’s famous VC, Yossi Vardi (he funded ICQ).

What did we talk about? The innovation that is still to come and how scary it is. How we will deal with the jobs displaced by companies like Uber, who is changing work and could dramatically change it when self-driving cars arrive.

At the camp I talked with the team from Tapingo. http://www.tapingo.com/ Don’t know who they are? Of course not, unless you're a college student or an investor. At Santa Clara University, 70% of students’ food transactions are already going through its app. It lets you order, say, a latte while still in bed. It’ll tell you “your latte will be ready at 8:09 a.m., come pick it up.” You walk in, don’t wait in line, don’t touch anything or give anyone a credit card or cash. It works great and students love it because it saves them tons of time. But Daniel Almog, CEO/founder, told me he’s moving into new areas. He’s having students deliver to other students and they are paid in a virtual currency (done so they can avoid paying bank transaction fees).

Think about just how much cloud computing and technology is changing the world at this bleeding edge. It’s changing what we think of as a job, or as a reward. Is your company studying companies like Tapingo?

How are you pushing your company to stay up with the disruptions? Let me know, I’d love to feature the best examples in future videos with me and in future newsletters.

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Robotics Conference coming up. I’ll be speaking at this very cool robotics and AI conference in Idaho on August 20th. https://www.facebook.com/events/610178355751456/ You should be there, this is probably going to be the most bleeding edge of all the events I’ll visit this year and I’ll bring you tons of video, of course.

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Drones face new PR challenges. Will drones be even more regulated due to people flying them over fires, which keeps emergency crews from flying their helicopters and saving property and potentially lives? https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153444642744655 I keep hoping that people will refrain from behaving badly, but it looks like new laws are needed to keep drone operators from interfering with emergency crews.

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What do most Americans miss about China’s tech companies? Gary Rieschel, one of the top investors in China, tells me “don’t miss the speed.” https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153444748904655/

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Mashable says Sony’s Project Morpheus VR headset has the best chance at winning the fight for your living room. http://mashable.com/2015/07/19/sony-project-morpheus-hands-on-2/?utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial I say it’s too early to decide on winners. Based on what I saw at Facebook yesterday this fight hasn’t even begun. But damn, is 2016 gonna be huge in consumer electronics.

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Why I never brag about Rackspace’s security. Last year the PR team for Ashley Madison, a site that lets people cheat on their spouses, bragged to me that their security was best of breed. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153447889029655&set=a.18390289654.24496.501319654 Turns out it wasn’t. This week it was disclosed that the site was hacked and the hacker is threatening to turn over customer info to the public on its 37 million users. For me? It’s yet another reason why I’m so public about what’s going on in my life (both good and bad). Turns out privacy is just not going to be easy to come by for human beings anymore. But it reminds me not to brag about security. Why? It invites bad karma. That said, security is everyone’s job, and we’d love to work with you to make your security better.

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PayPal splits off of eBay. This is a big deal for eBay, but, watch PayPal run away with the show. It’s growing a lot faster than eBay is, and there’s a lot of future in it. eBay needs to be rethought and it’ll be interesting to see if it can shake the perception that it is an old company that the cool kids don’t use anymore. I'm wishing them luck in competing with Amazon, which has been out innovating eBay for some time now. I know how that feels, and it’s not fun, but Rackspace found a way to remain relevant, so I bet eBay can too. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153449023394655

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Thank you. Inc Magazine named me #5 on a list of 30 Power Players in Tech You Need to Know. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153451152324655 Very honored by that, but I have some unfair advantages thanks to working at Rackspace. We have 300,000 customers from tractor companies to TED. That lets me see the future in a way very few do, more fun to come.

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Are you a member of the App Developer’s Alliance? Rackspace is. Here we meet up with Jon Potter, CEO of such. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153451965684655/ That helps 60,000 developers with education, advocacy, and more.

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The smart home is here. Got a look at iControl’s use of Jasper. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153454739754655/ What is Jasper? It makes connectivity solutions for Internet of Things companies (it's used in things from vending machines, to GM’s connected cars, to iControl’s home security system, which you’ll learn about here).

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Are you a photographer? Photographer and Rackspace customer Trey Ratcliff shows me the new bag he designed with Peak Design. Very useful. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153456232194655/

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Hackers have their way with a connected car. http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/self-driving/hackers-take-control-of-a-moving-jeep This stuff needs to be far more secure before consumers will trust a self-driving car. I’m seeing a new kind of fear of new technology. We aren’t good at figuring out real risk. Non-hacked cars kill 1.2 million people around the world every year, while I still haven’t seen a death from a car hacking, but it doesn’t matter. New technology scares us, the media takes advantage of that fear, and so the future will be slower to arrive than it otherwise should be. That said, we’re up to the challenge, I believe. I'm a technology optimist for a reason: it improves our lives more than it brings bad things into them.

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Be back August 13th.

Today I’m leaving on vacation with my family on a road trip through Oregon’s coast. So, we’re going to take a few weeks off, I'll be back publishing August 13th. I really appreciate the many nice notes I’ve gotten from the first 15 weeks of my newsletter.

So, what were my favorite few interviews of the past 15 weeks since I started this newsletter?

5. Talking about the sharing economy disruption with friend Jeremiah Owyang. This is coming up in so many conversations, I know it touched a nerve: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153425671509655

6. Talking with the investor in Starbucks, Dan Levithan: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/vb.501319654/10153393544334655/ He is one of the best investors in consumer tech companies and his insights are deep.

7. Scaling companies/databases with the guy who helps do just that at ScaleArc: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153408879729655/

16. A look at how a famous music festival is using beacons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUJ8Hu-KELs&feature=youtu.be

17. Tim Draper (famous investor, he’s the “D” in DFJ) tells me how blockchain is changing how he does the legal “paperwork”: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/vb.501319654/10153263857234655/?type=2&theater

18. Inside the world of casual gaming with President of SGN, Josh Yguado (they just announced a big funding round this morning): https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153219641849655

19. My talk with drone lawyer, Brendan Schulman, about regulations that are hitting that industry: https://youtu.be/E-N6wL1Kn2Y

I read all my email at scobleizer@gmail.com and anything done in response to this newsletter goes to the top of my inbox. I’m also at +1-425-205-1921 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble. Please let me know how I, or Rackspace, the leading managed cloud company, can be of service to you. Thanks too to Hugh Macleod and team for helping me do art each week for this. We love his work!

Please share this newsletter on social networks and email. If you have gotten it from a friend, you can subscribe (or unsubscribe) here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5

Thank you to Hugh MacLeod, who does the fabulous art each week for my newsletter. You can find his work at http://www.gapingvoid.com ﻿___

So honored to be #5 on this Inc. Magazine list put together by John Rampton. As +Rackspace's Futurist I have a lot of advantages others don't (we have 300,000 customers in all sorts of businesses from tractors to sunglasses to TED videos so I get to see lots of stuff before others do).

I try to use my powers to help those building new things. Anyone building the future? Leave a comment!

Anyway today am headed over to Drew Ianni's conference about Internet of Things where I am on stage this afternoon.

Then Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble is taking us on a family vacation to Oregon for 10 days. When we get back I am speaking to the cable industry at CableLabs thanks to Phil McKinney, who runs that.

What a year! Oh, and while we were driving around Yellowstone a couple days ago Shelly Palmer, who has a tech newsletter with millions of subscribers that ... more »

So honored to be #5 on this Inc. Magazine list put together by John Rampton. As +Rackspace's Futurist I have a lot of advantages others don't (we have 300,000 customers in all sorts of businesses from tractors to sunglasses to TED videos so I get to see lots of stuff before others do).

I try to use my powers to help those building new things. Anyone building the future? Leave a comment!

Anyway today am headed over to Drew Ianni's conference about Internet of Things where I am on stage this afternoon.

Then Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble is taking us on a family vacation to Oregon for 10 days. When we get back I am speaking to the cable industry at CableLabs thanks to Phil McKinney, who runs that.

What a year! Oh, and while we were driving around Yellowstone a couple days ago Shelly Palmer, who has a tech newsletter with millions of subscribers that he's written since the early 1990s, was giving me tips about mine, that I'll put in play. First tip? Make it easier to find how to subscribe. Shelly, that's at http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 But he gave me a ton of other tips, as well, that I'll work on when I get back from vacation.

This is my newsletter from last night, but think it's worth reprinting here today. Please subscribe at http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 so you always have it. Sorry, today there won't be a Gillmor Gang because I'm in Jackson Hole (I might get a few videos up this weekend, though, and based on the people who are here, they will be worth watching).

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DON'T DEVALUE YOUR MUSIC

Yesterday I sat down with friend and music promoter Claire Parr. But that’s way underselling her.

Claire helps build brands, music brands, and she’s studied under the best (her grandfather did this for MGM back in the early 1900s, and her father was an accomplished musician so this work runs in her blood).

If you've seen Southwest Airlines' “Live at 35” music on YouTube or other social media outlets, you’ve seen her work. She also does branding and music for... more »

This is my newsletter from last night, but think it's worth reprinting here today. Please subscribe at http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 so you always have it. Sorry, today there won't be a Gillmor Gang because I'm in Jackson Hole (I might get a few videos up this weekend, though, and based on the people who are here, they will be worth watching).

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DON'T DEVALUE YOUR MUSIC

Yesterday I sat down with friend and music promoter Claire Parr. But that’s way underselling her.

Claire helps build brands, music brands, and she’s studied under the best (her grandfather did this for MGM back in the early 1900s, and her father was an accomplished musician so this work runs in her blood).

If you've seen Southwest Airlines' “Live at 35” music on YouTube or other social media outlets, you’ve seen her work. She also does branding and music for all sorts of companies, from Aloft Hotels to CocaCola. And her concert series, http://www.liveinthevineyard.com , is amazing (I’ve been lucky enough to have attended several times).

We sat down in Napa where she and her team are preparing for another series of concerts. Funny that she doesn’t sell tickets to her main event, Live in the Vineyard. You have to win them, and every year, millions of people apply to win tickets to this exclusive concert series in Napa.

She talks to me in this 50 minute interview about talent and how to use music for brand building.

What I took away from this fascinating interview is that businesses can use music to build remarkable brands (look at how GoPro used Glitch Mob’s music to build a brand in their Hero 2 videos, or how Beats sold headphones, largely based on getting popular musicians to wear their headphones on shows like American Idol). But, they should also proceed carefully, and they better have a real passion about music if they want to go down that route.

The other thing I got out of it is that she believes streaming has devalued music. She says it has radically changed the business and that the smart people change along with disruption like that.

That resonates with me as a public face at Rackspace. This week we announced that we’re providing Fanatical Support for Microsoft Azure and that’s an example of how we did the same thing.

“Find ways to marry music to new technologies coming down the pike,” she recommends. In Part III of the interview, she talks more about that philosophy while she talks to me about musicians that make millions from advertising on their YouTube channels.

Enjoy, this is a special one, and I know it’s long at about 50 minutes. I split it up into three pieces:

Part I: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153438461124655/ Covers cool things that have happened in her career, changes in selling music. “Selling music is brutal.” She defends Taylor Swift.

Part II: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153438515044655/ Talks about her work for Southwest Airlines. Breaks down streaming services. Why the freedom to create is so important. “I had freedom to fail.”

Part III: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153438578389655/ Whether she thinks musicians should work for a label. How technology affects music. Why people should know what they are good at AND what they aren’t good at. How she’s measured by brands. And finally, how she thinks VR and 360-degree cameras will change the business. She finishes up with branding tips for companies.

Musician Roem Baur gives his opinion about streaming and the music industry at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153426356139655 We had him on our videoconference system at Tech on Deck and he took a few minutes away from recording his latest album.

http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/14/flipkart-wants-to-predict-fashion-trends-with-your-photos/ On stage with Flipkart at MobileBeat. The numbers that are hitting India’s #1 ecommerce company are obscene.

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Convo, a collaboration tool that Techcrunch uses, just got some new features and the CEO shows them to me at: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153436039614655/

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Tech on Deck wrapup from SCOTTeVEST’s CEO/founder Scott Jordan. What a great week, he wraps it up well: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153437859259655

While we’re talking about Tech on Deck, here the founder of NorthFace, Hap Klopp, is on with Scott and I. It's a fun discussion about the future of wearable technology: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153436198389655

Rackspace provides support for Microsoft Azure: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153434110864655 We’re looking to help you build your company, service or product, even if you use someone else’s cloud.

http://stories.rackspace.com/customers/atilus/ Are you a Rackspace customer? Here are some of our customers talking about their technology stories. We’d love to have you on.

https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153426363959655 Rackspace’s CTO, John Engates, joins us on Tech on Deck and talks about our new plans to help customers build their businesses - whether they chose Rackspace’s own datacenters, or Microsoft Azure.

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Google announces Eddystone beacons: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153437188344655 Beacons are bringing cool new features to iPhones, but now Google jumps in for the other 80+% of people who use Android.

Nvidia lays out why you need a high end graphics card and PC to power the best Virtual Reality systems like Oculus Rift: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153435396384655/

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I just started a new Facebook list of the best PR people in Tech, let me know if I’m missing your favorite, but I do expect these people to be public and active on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153435206449655

Gillmor Gang, every Friday afternoon we get together to talk about the geeky stuff of the week. Here we discuss music, VR, and wearable technology: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153430294164655

Be careful with Facebook’s new “See First” feature: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153427831179655

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I read all my email at scobleizer@gmail.com and anything done in response to this newsletter goes to the top of my inbox. I’m also at +1-425-205-1921 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble. Please let me know how I, or Rackspace, the leading managed cloud company, can be of service to you. Thanks too to Hugh Macleod and team for helping me do art each week for this. We love his work!

Please share this newsletter on social networks and email. If you have gotten it from a friend, you can subscribe (or unsubscribe) here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 ﻿___

My newsletter for this week. This was sent out last week to everyone who subscribed at http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 and includes all the links to everything I've done over the past week. All my newsletters are up on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/scobleizer

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What I learned in Sun Valley.

This week I’m in Sun Valley, Idaho. Why? Because Allen and Company has an annual event here where nearly every HUGE name in tech is attending. I’ve been hanging out with the press taking photos and I’ve seen Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Tim Cook and about 300 other huge names in tech and publishing.

For years Scott Jordan, founder and CEO of SCOTTeVEST www.scottevest.com (I wear his clothes almost every day) has been begging me to come up, hang out and network with the billionaires and the elite. That didn’t really interest me, after all, I’d rather hang out with ... more »

My newsletter for this week. This was sent out last week to everyone who subscribed at http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 and includes all the links to everything I've done over the past week. All my newsletters are up on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/scobleizer

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What I learned in Sun Valley.

This week I’m in Sun Valley, Idaho. Why? Because Allen and Company has an annual event here where nearly every HUGE name in tech is attending. I’ve been hanging out with the press taking photos and I’ve seen Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Tim Cook and about 300 other huge names in tech and publishing.

For years Scott Jordan, founder and CEO of SCOTTeVEST www.scottevest.com (I wear his clothes almost every day) has been begging me to come up, hang out and network with the billionaires and the elite. That didn’t really interest me, after all, I’d rather hang out with startups since they usually show me something new. The big folks are far less likely to show me something really new that the rest of the world hasn’t seen yet.

So, instead of hanging out on the lawn with the rest of the press hoping for some scraps (I did some of that too, for instance, here’s Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, as he takes questions: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153422418099655/ ) we decided to hold our own event, called “Tech on Deck” where we are doing interviews on the deck of Scott’s home, as seen on http://www.techondeck2015.com (he and his wife have built a stunning home that looks right into the famous ski resort here).

What did I learn? Nearly every person talked about how hard it is to get attention, or get people to buy things, or get people to care. We’re being flooded in a sea of content, with social media quantity going up exponentially every year. Facebook is really changing the market here. Just listen to the media industry VIPs we had on Tuesday morning at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153421743254655 (Samir Arora, who runs seventh-most-visited media company, Mode, along with Jim Louderback, founder of Revision 3 and Moshe Hogeg, founder of Yo, Mobli, and EyeIn). You can see how they all are having to pivot around Facebook, not to mention the move to mobile.

The musician’s point of view on music streaming services with musician Roem Baur: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153426356139655

Startups from around the world: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153426391224655

A look at the video switcher, Newtek Tricaster, that we use at Rackspace and for Tech on Deck: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153426375254655

We’re not done, either. Tomorrow I’ll post video from an amazing startup that’s going to change the face of Virtual Reality. Find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble tomorrow, and I’ll be on Gillmor Gang at 1 p.m. Pacific Time to talk more about what I’ve learned this week.

Here’s some other stuff that caught my eye this week:

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What’s the first day at Rackspace like? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YG0jogquRw

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Your email is being spied on. I love this new tool that blocks all email tracking: TrackBuster: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153425682574655/

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The vending machine of the future demonstrates how Internet of Things is changing tons of businesses: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153411073994655/

I give you social media tips in Mashable: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153421257074655

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Google shows off its self-driving technology in a TED speech. If you haven’t seen this, you should watch: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153413702124655

Next week I’ll be in Jackson Hole at another exclusive event, meeting with some of the best entrepreneurs who didn’t get an invite to the Allen and Company event. Follow me on Facebook if you want to see it in real time, or see you next Thursday night with my email.

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I read all my email at scobleizer@gmail.com and anything done in response to this newsletter goes to the top of my inbox. I’m also at +1-425-205-1921 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble. Please let me know how I, or Rackspace, the leading managed cloud company, can be of service to you. Thanks too to Hugh Macleod and team for helping me do art each week for this. We love his work!

Please pass this newsletter around. If you have gotten it, you can subscribe (or unsubscribe) here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5﻿___

The show continues tonight at 5:30 p.m. with musician Roem A Baur and then music promoter Claire Parr. Later we'll have a Cisco senior vice president on to wrap up the evening.

Tomorrow the fun starts with Jeremiah Owyang at 8:45 a.m. Pacific Time, talking about the disruption, opportunity, and troubles in the Sharing Economy.

Thank you Rackspace Hosting for encouraging me to make media about the future. NewTek for providing the video switching technology and Philip Nelson to run the NewTek TriCaster™ behind the scenes. Cisco for providing a ton of stuff i... more »

It's not every day you talk about electronic toilets with Gary Shapiro who runs the Consumer Electronics Show.

The show continues tonight at 5:30 p.m. with musician Roem A Baur and then music promoter Claire Parr. Later we'll have a Cisco senior vice president on to wrap up the evening.

Tomorrow the fun starts with Jeremiah Owyang at 8:45 a.m. Pacific Time, talking about the disruption, opportunity, and troubles in the Sharing Economy.

Thank you Rackspace Hosting for encouraging me to make media about the future. NewTek for providing the video switching technology and Philip Nelson to run the NewTek TriCaster™ behind the scenes. Cisco for providing a ton of stuff including the amazing videoconference gear we were using to call Gary in. SCOTTEVEST from TEC for providing this stunning set (actually Scott's deck). Ustream for providing the live video streams.﻿___

Hey, Robert D. La Gesse thanks for funding me to do this on behalf of Rackspace Hosting -- we have hosted so many great media companies over the years, from YouTube to TED and many others. Really is an honor to do this on your birthday!

Next up? Gary Shapiro (the guy who runs the Consumer Electronics Show). He'll be on at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. at http://www.techondeck2015.com ).

Thanks Scott Jordan for hosting us in your stunning home and to photographer Thomas Hawk for adding so much great media and conversations.﻿

Our first "Tech on Deck."

Hey, Robert D. La Gesse thanks for funding me to do this on behalf of Rackspace Hosting -- we have hosted so many great media companies over the years, from YouTube to TED and many others. Really is an honor to do this on your birthday!

5:30 p.m. Roem A Baur, Independent Recording and Touring Artist (AKA "a musician"). He will be joined by Claire Parr at 6 p.m. Her firm produces the music for Southwest Airlines, Aloft Hotels, and quite a few concerts and brands.... more »

Join us! Here's the schedule for tomorrow at "Tech on Deck" and the intro video.

Join our event at https://www.facebook.com/events/1678325252396131/ and the main page at http://techondeck2015.com/

All times Pacific Time.

Starts tomorrow at 7:45 a.m. Pacific Time (we'll put up a recording too). Scott Jordan, Thomas Hawk, and me will kick things off.8 a.m. The changing world of media. Samir Arora, CEO of Mode. Jim Louderback, founder of Revision3. Moshe Hogeg, founder of The Official Yo App, Mobli, and EyeIn.

5:30 p.m. Roem A Baur, Independent Recording and Touring Artist (AKA "a musician"). He will be joined by Claire Parr at 6 p.m. Her firm produces the music for Southwest Airlines, Aloft Hotels, and quite a few concerts and brands. Music Disruption.

This email newsletter was sent out May 7th. Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here:http://eepurl.com/bjalx5

(I'm now caught up, all in preparation for this week's "Tech on Deck" -- more info on that virtual event here:https://www.facebook.com/events/1678325252396131/ ).

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Unless you have been living under a rock you know that Oculus Rift is coming in early 2016 thanks to its announcement this week (https://www.oculus.com/…/first-look-at-the-rift-shipping-q…/ ) along with fact Google has thrown a half billion into an augmented reality company, Magic Leap, and Microsoft, last week, got a ton of press for its HoloLens augmented reality demos. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are about to spring into the world in a b... more »

Reprinted: Life and Tech #5: Augmenting our Reality.

This email newsletter was sent out May 7th. Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here:http://eepurl.com/bjalx5

(I'm now caught up, all in preparation for this week's "Tech on Deck" -- more info on that virtual event here:https://www.facebook.com/events/1678325252396131/ ).

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Unless you have been living under a rock you know that Oculus Rift is coming in early 2016 thanks to its announcement this week (https://www.oculus.com/…/first-look-at-the-rift-shipping-q…/ ) along with fact Google has thrown a half billion into an augmented reality company, Magic Leap, and Microsoft, last week, got a ton of press for its HoloLens augmented reality demos. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are about to spring into the world in a big way and the hype knob is turning way up.

At the Collision Conference in Las Vegas this week there was one guy who is already benefitting from augmented reality technology: Blippar’s CEO Ambarish Mitra. https://blippar.com/en/

His technology is featured on the covers of cereal boxes from General Mills (they make a variety of breakfast cereals from Wheaties to Lucky Charms).

Today Blippar turned on a new visual search engine. It got quite a stir out of the audience at Collision when he brought two puppies onto stage. Pointed his mobile phone at one, and it properly identified the breed as a pomeranian. Whoa.

As he pointed his phone at a variety of other things, Coke cans, cereal boxes, and even fresh fruits, it properly identified them and then a circular menu popped out with details about the object you were aiming at. All even color matched with the object you were aiming at (carrots brought an orange background, for instance).

Backstage Mitra explained more about his technology. He has millions of images in his databases, thanks to his mobile app’s 50 million users. His team has built a deep learning system that learns new objects at a fast clip. He says the secret isn’t in the deep learning part of the technology but in gathering enough properly curated images of objects so that the system can learn the difference between, say, a box of cereal, a dog, or a can of Coca Cola.

Why are brands excited by this? For the first time they can have a real relationship with the buyer at the point of consumption. For instance, I was drinking a can of Diet Coke in the speaker room. Coke, before this, had no idea that can was even being distributed there. After all, we were standing in a temporary structure built just for the conference. But now Coke can build new experiences that spring out of the Blippar’s app. They get a ton of data they never could before about who their customers are, where they are, and what context they were interacting with the brand in the first place (which is another way they are ahead of Google and Microsoft’s Bing, amongst others: Blippar is a mobile first company and isn’t encumbered by having to keep old web users happy).

Mitra demoed a few of the augmented reality experiences brands have built for me. Some were simple, others were full 3D virtual experiences. You can put full games on top of a soda can, for instance, or make 3D models pop out of a magazine ad. Just by aiming your mobile phone’s camera at things.

Which gets me to the whole point of this newsletter. Our lives are about to be augmented. Someday we’ll be wearing glasses that tell us more about things in our world (which is why Hololens and Magic Leap have gotten such big investments, more on those in a second). Mitra’s Blippar is positioned to be the underlying technology and he’s already winning (he bought competitor Layar last year which lost to Blippar because Blippar’s focus on brands and not just on technology gave it a deeper war chest).

Let’s back up though and break down the virtual reality and augmented reality space. Blippar shows that there are already startups who are building software and positioning themselves to provide pieces of a new ecosystem of apps and technologies that will enable new consumer electronics gadgets.

I see them as two separate spaces that probably will combine in the future.

2016 will see a variety of virtual reality gadgets. Oculus Rift will be the best selling, but will be joined by Valve’s headset, HTC’s Vive, which will ship earlier, but is coming from a video game company, not Facebook, with its 1.44 billion users. Insiders are telling me that Oculus has some mind blowing stuff it hasn’t shown off yet, which shows how the hype is building. Also joining are a variety of mobile phone-based headsets, from Google’s Cardboard, to Merge VR’s foam-based set that takes an iPhone 6, to Samsung’s Gear VR, which costs about $200 and takes a Samsung phone to power it. I expect to see a number of big booths at next year’s CES show to be demonstrating these to lots of willing buyers (at this year’s show Oculus had a long line waiting to try its prototypes and most I talked to said something like “holy cow.” Well, it was Vegas so a few expletives might have been used. Heh. Point is that there’s a LOT of interest in Oculus).

In 2017 we’ll see the augmented reality glasses, like Microsoft’s Hololens, Meta’s SmartGlasses, and Magic Leap jump into the fray, amongst others. What are these and how are they different? Their screens let you look through them to the real world. Where Valve and Oculus only let you see virtual images painted on your screens (along with possibly images from a camera so you can see where in the room you are).

Augmented Reality will let you have glasses you can wear while walking around. Sort of like how Google Glass worked, but with much nicer screens. This is the world where Blippar will really take off. Why? Because our expectations are that you’ll look at something and be able to learn more about it.

Today Blippar showed off just how cool that world will be.

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A few notes on the Collision Conference.

You might not have heard of it yet. But it’s part of the fastest growing series of conferences I’ve seen in my career. Four years ago founder Paddy Cosgrave was sitting in his bedroom begging people to come to Ireland to speak at his new conference, called “Web Summit.” He told me most turned him down until he got a huge break: he met rock star Bono in a Dublin restaurant. Got the courage to introduce himself and ask if he could come along to a pub crawl for geeks he was arranging. Then he called back all those who had turned him down “hey, I know you told me to get lost, but now Bono is joining us, want to go on a pub crawl through Dublin with Bono?”

That first conference had a few hundred people. That got me to join the next year. Why? Techcrunch’s Mike Butcher, and others, told me it was the best conference they had ever been to. The year I joined there were a few thousand attendees. Last November, that conference had 22,000 attendees.

So what does Collision have to do with Web Summit? It’s the same conference and expo run by the same team, but Paddy and his team believe that every country should have their own brand. They are also holding a Web Summit in Hong Kong, called “Rise.”

This is the most impressive startup and technology conference. And that’s saying something. I’ll see you at Web Summit in Dublin in November.

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The Blockchain is going to change, well, nearly everything about business.

Here is legendary investor Tim Draper (he’s the “D” in DFJ, which invested in Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, amongst many other things) talking about how he’s getting rid of legal documents when funding startups by incorporating those agreements directly into Blockchain technology. What’s that? It’s a new kind of ledger, decentralized, built into the software underneath Bitcoin. Keeps track of all the owners and agreements that go into owning a piece of a company. Listen to Tim talk about it here:https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/vb.501319654/10153263857234655/?type=2&theater

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A new cloud is coming, says CRV investor.

Devdutt Yellurkar is a venture capitalist at CRV and explained to me that he’s seeing a new “Cloud 2.0” taking shape.https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/vb.501319654/10153263910299655/?type=2&theater What’s that? A set of new companies like Qubole that are set to disrupt existing cloud vendors by taking away the most lucrative of their business assets: databases. I found this to be very interesting for us at Rackspace, since we provide service on top of so much of the cloud (just this week we announced support for Microsoft Office 360).

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My first week with Apple Watch.

Lots of people have been asking me what I think of Apple’s new watch. So far it does what it needed to do: be better than the competition (by just doing that it will sell 90% of the smart watches sold this year since most of the people who can afford a $400 watch are already Apple customers). That said, it’s not a category redefinition like the first iPhone was to the mobile phone industry. It doesn’t bring much new beyond its “crown” which lets you scroll up and down through emails and notifications.

I find its real value is that it saves me time. How? Everytime someone calls I look at my watch. I get a lot of spam calls and calls from people who block their caller ID. I never accept those, and it saves me seven seconds every time I get one of those because I can decline the call right from the watch.

Sometimes my phone is in the next room on the charger while I’m watching TV, too. Maybe my boss is calling just to check on something. I can answer him right from the watch without getting off the couch. That’s happened a few times in the first week already and everytime it happens it makes me happy I have the watch.

That said I’ve already removed most of the apps and most of the notifications from my watch. Why? They aren’t contextual enough. When I am watching a movie I don’t want to get bothered by, say, Facebook or Twitter. That stuff can always wait. Messenger, on the other hand, I kept on because if a customer is trying to get an answer that’s worth walking out of a movie for. Same with texts and phone calls. They are worth keeping on the watch. The other stuff, not so much. App developers need to rethink the value they are delivering to the watch. I’ll try apps as they update and see if they get smarter about delivering only really key notifications to the watch.

I do like the map integration on the watch and when Apple Pay gets more ubiquitous I can see that paying from the watch will be nicer too. The health monitoring is nice, although people who are really serious about health, like marathon runners, find it isn’t rugged enough, nor is it water proof, so they find they prefer devices from Garmin and others that are made more for them.

So, do I recommend you buy it? Only if you can get enough value out of it by saving a few seconds here and there by not being asked to pull your phone out of your purse or pocket. Translation: rich people will probably get enough value. Busy sales people and execs probably will too. It isn’t the kind of thing that I am going to be highly evangelistic about, but I’m happy I have mine.

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I read all my email at scobleizer@gmail.com and anything done in response to this newsletter goes to the top of my inbox. I’m also at +1-425-205-1921 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble. Please let me know how I, or Rackspace, the leading managed cloud company, can be of service to you. Thanks too to Hugh Macleod and team for helping me do art each week for this. We love his work!

Please pass this newsletter around. If you have gotten it, you can subscribe (or unsubscribe) here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5﻿___

This email newsletter was sent out May 14th. Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5

Dubai is just like many other cities in the world: its government wants to make it a startup hub and is investing tons into making that happen (it is building several entrepreneurial cities, one aimed at Internet, another at healthcare). But there’s a bit of difference between Dubai and, say, Shanghai or Singapore: it has the tallest building in the world, the busiest airport, the nicest hotel, an indoor skiing resort, and an entrepreneurial set of leaders who have a “why not” attitude. Plus the 2020 World Fair will be here.

While there to speak at Terrapin’s Cards & Payments confab I met with many business leaders. Restauranteurs, a guy who ... more »

Reprinted: Life and Tech #6: Dubai and emerging markets set to roar

This email newsletter was sent out May 14th. Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5

Dubai is just like many other cities in the world: its government wants to make it a startup hub and is investing tons into making that happen (it is building several entrepreneurial cities, one aimed at Internet, another at healthcare). But there’s a bit of difference between Dubai and, say, Shanghai or Singapore: it has the tallest building in the world, the busiest airport, the nicest hotel, an indoor skiing resort, and an entrepreneurial set of leaders who have a “why not” attitude. Plus the 2020 World Fair will be here.

While there to speak at Terrapin’s Cards & Payments confab I met with many business leaders. Restauranteurs, a guy who is building skateparks and designing events for RedBull, another who builds very expensive Swiss watches, some tech geeks, startup leaders, people who are running another huge conference. and even visited one MIT fellow’s home where he showed me his extensive art collection.

Immediately you pick up on how new this ecosystem is. Dubai residents point to pride the fact that almost the entire city has been built in the past 15 years. Yes, we talked about the fact that much of it was built with slave, at worst, or indentured servants, at best, labor. But those that focus on the negatives will miss that this city is the Las Vegas of the Middle East now. Do we care that the mob built Las Vegas? No. And neither will the world concern itself too much with human rights, although one woman executive I met who works in an ad agency told me it’s much tougher to be a female executive there than in other places in the world. “Why do you stay?” I asked. She said she loved the entrepreneurial attitude, the easier way of life, and the place Dubai is going to take on the world’s stage. All as she looked lovingly at the stunning skyline (she took me to an opening of a new posh restaurant on the 49th floor of one of the newer buildings). This is a place that is undergoing stunning change and she told me she is “leaning in” and actively working to change the culture and she sees a huge opportunity here (she sees Sheryl Sandberg as a huge role model for her and other new business executives in the Middle East). Leaders aren’t made in easy conditions and Dubai is forging new leaders in not just tough cultural conditions but explosive growth and markets.

One thing I picked up on is how few really innovative startups there are. But everyone wants them. I met with a venture capitalist and he listed the kinds of things he’s looking to invest in. Most will be great businesses but I didn’t hear anything really forward thinking like, say, a media company for Oculus Rift, or robots, or 3D printers, or any number of bleeding-edge IoT startups that you will see at Web Summit in Dublin. The “coolest” startup is one that does augmented reality from children’s books, and in the comments under the video I did of him https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153277316249655/ you’ll see that the concept is similar to others who came before him. Which is what I hear from many here: the ecosystem isn’t ready to take real innovation risk. That will be built over the next decade. Investors here want to see entrepreneurs copy tried-and-true concepts from the West and maybe China and bring them to the Middle East.

Uber is available here, but so is a local copy, https://www.careem.com , which is finding a nice market in conservative Saudi Arabia, where women aren’t allowed to drive. They outfitted cars with baby seats and are winning business from Uber because they more quickly adopt to local tastes and needs. That said, Uber isn’t your normal startup. While I was in Dubai it announced it was starting to take cash in India, which shows it, too, can change to serve local needs (many both in India and in the Middle East don’t use credit cards, I’ve learned, which makes using services like Uber difficult). Uber’s announcement: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153274787549655:0

How does Dubai get to the place where it can really innovate? It has a lack of programming talent. Some of that could be lured here with the wonderful lifestyle and the economic riches of the nearby oil riches. Dubai, itself, doesn’t have much of an oil wealth, but does benefit from having major wealth nearby in Saudi Arabia and other cities. That is one reason why Dubai is more liberal (ex pats here say they get away with much of the same behavior that you would in Western cities, while that wouldn’t be true in nearby Saudi Arabia. Women here are often dressed like they do in San Francisco or San Antonio. Yes, you do see the more conservative ones, but Dubai has built an oasis that’s open for business to the rest of the world.

Which brings me to Obi’s founder, Neeraj Chauhan, https://www.facebook.com/Neerajchauhan01 . I met with him in Dubai as he traveled back from Africa. Obi is one of a bunch of new mobile companies (the most famous of which is Xaomi, run by former Google exec Hugo Barra) that are going after the developing market.

This is where the new mobile wars are being fought. Let’s be honest. Apple already has the market share in the United States it’s going to get and the profits, too. But in places where Nokia once ruled the markets are wide open for disruption. He told me that in India alone a million smart phones are sold every day. Get one percent of that market and you have a nice business.

He told me the role of Dubai, with its airport that is reachable from the rest of the world. You can take a non-stop here from San Francisco, thanks to Emirates airlines. He says that Dubai is the place you go to do business and that things like its 100,000 attendee GITEX tech show, in October, are the reasons why (he was here for a health tech conference last week).

He says the markets are getting richer, which means they are looking for more upscale mobile phones. He’s about to introduce a $200 phone that is being designed in San Francisco. He’s making a big deal about that “designed in San Francisco, priced for the rest of the world.” Most people in the emerging markets he serves can’t yet afford the $1,000 iPhone 6+ I am holding.

Anyway, where I’m going is the smart money in Silicon Valley travels to emerging markets. Look at the moves Zuckerberg has made at Facebook. Nearly everyone in this region uses WhatsApp. Look for more, many more, to follow his lead. Can’t think of a better place to start than Dubai. It’s ready to roar.

Oh, and when will we see a global brand come not from Silicon Valley or China, but from the emerging markets themselves. Payments provider Mpeso https://mpeso.net/ is dominant in places like Africa. It is the one I keep hearing about, so wonder if it will escape to the richer countries? Probably thanks to immigrants who are sending money back home.

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While we are talking about mobile phones, did you miss how Samsung and other vendors are getting squeezed? http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0bd63166-971d-11e4-9636-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3a5h5yRkn

Apple is moving in on their turf on high end (which is where most of the profits are) and companies like Xiomi, Meizu, Obi are commoditizing nice phones on low end. Meizu is announcing a new phone in India here: http://techpp.com/2015/05/14/chinese-smartphone-manufacturer-meizu-to-debut-in-india-on-may-18-likely-to-launch-meizu-m1-note/ Android is dominant in these emerging markets. But Samsung’s profits will likely continued to get squeezed. Why? On high end iPhones still have the best developer support and rich people around the world tell me that is why they are on iPhones (90% of the 200,000 customers of Coachella, world’s most influential music festival, are on iPhones). Even in Dubai, a market where most people have Android-based devices, the few developers I met were carrying iPhones. Why? They are hoping to get to the rich markets first.

I sure am glad I don’t work at Samsung. I don’t see how it escapes this squeeze anytime soon. Better hardware isn’t going to change the market dynamic in a big way.

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In Dubai I had quite a few fun experiences in between meeting tons of entrepreneurs and speaking at two conferences. Some of the people I met (I list them here so you can build relationships with some of the leaders in Dubai and the Middle East).

Microsoft evangelist Mohamed El Shaekh, who took me around the world’s most luxurious hotel: https://www.facebook.com/sheakh/posts/10152764805756555?pnref=story

Ritesh Tilani, who is a startup founder, working on a system to make airports more efficient with Bluetooth Smart Low Energy Beacons. He joined us on a trip around the waterfront in a yacht: https://www.facebook.com/ritesh.tilani/posts/10101792545176897?pnref=story

Met with journalist Farrukh Naeem Qadri and we talked about the startup ecosystem. Thanks for his help with this newsletter’s content. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155550474435500&set=a.10150330017380500.566621.612240499&type=1&theater

Rintu Mathew who is helping plan the 100,000 attendee tech conference GITEX. https://www.facebook.com/rin2.matt/posts/10155554745805191?pnref=story The details on the conference are at http://www.gitex.com/

Dany D-fine showed me the coolest app I saw come out of the region: Colorbug, which augments reality and helps kids do something other than just stare at their iPad’s screen: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153277316249655/

Akos Balogh traveled to Dubai to show me his new iPhone frame, Moscase, (looks like a case, but is packed with sensors and with a replaceable plate). Proves innovation isn’t done yet in the case market. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204088331192788&set=a.1493778468664.227679.1360131908&type=1

Futurist David Passiak introduced me to tons of people and took me “dune bashing.” https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152871602903807&set=a.10150206961913807.313673.636253806&type=1 (Think rollercoaster on sand dunes, tons of fun).

Tina Yd came along. She runs a startup incubator in Dubai. https://www.facebook.com/tinadot

Brad Kr came to promote skateboard events years ago and never left. Now he designs skateparks for the royalty here and does marketing work for RedBull and others. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153272180264655&set=a.18390289654.24496.501319654&type=1 He was joined with Raj Kotecha, who has started several businesses, is a DJ in town, and took me to the exclusive 360 club that’s hard to get into. (Get it, I do 360 video, so had to go to the 360 club? Thought not. Heh. ).

Former NextWeb CEO Zee Kane was one of the group that joined us on Sunday for a spectacular lunch. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153271282214655 This shows why Dubai is attracting tourists from all over the world. The food is stunning and continued to be stunning during my entire trip. Others that joined? Obi’s Managing Director Amit Rupchandani, https://www.facebook.com/amit.rupchandani.1 and Ahmed Sabti, who is trying to build a new social network. I gave him some ideas about how he could possibly have some success in that crowded space. https://www.facebook.com/ahmed.alsabti

Visited Sultan Al Qassemi. He’s a fellow at MIT Media Lab and has a spectacular modern art collection. I wish I had more time with him, definitely the most interesting person I met and quite outspoken, too. I hear he was first person to be verified by Twitter in the Middle East, too. https://twitter.com/SultanAlQassemi

Dominik Mazur, CEO of Camfind, showed me his visual search engine. https://www.facebook.com/Mazur.Dominik I used it on Maximilian Buser’s wrist. He makes art watches in Switzerland that cost $95,000 and up. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153274438549655&set=a.18390289654.24496.501319654&type=1&theater We talked about Apple Watch and he says it’s having zero effect on his business, but that he expects that Swiss manufacturers in the $300 to $1,500 price range will be hit hard by Apple.

Whew, what a lot of meetings and fun to fit into four days. Thanks everyone who came out and taught me about the region.

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I love traveling with my ScottEVest pants. It’s funny, but I note here https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153274339734655&set=a.18390289654.24496.501319654&type=1 that I like the pants better than the vest that gave ScottEVest its name. The pockets, which are extra long, keep my passport, wallet, and iPhone 6+ safe. I can’t imagine traveling without them anymore.

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A new thing the Apple Watch does? Keeps you from being embarrassed on stage. I was being interviewed by Plamen Russev when my phone rang. Yeah, I know, I should have had it in airplane mode but I forgot. The watch let me reject the call in less than a second which means the phone didn’t even have a chance to ring. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153274337539655 Plamen does the quite successful WEBIT series of conferences. Based on the quality of the audience he had here in Dubai I will try to visit his bigger events around the world.

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I read all my email at scobleizer@gmail.com and anything done in response to this newsletter goes to the top of my inbox. I’m also at +1-425-205-1921 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble. Please let me know how I, or Rackspace, the leading managed cloud company, can be of service to you. Thanks too to Hugh Macleod and team for helping me do art each week for this. We love his work!

Please pass this newsletter around. If you have gotten it, you can subscribe (or unsubscribe) here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5﻿___

This email newsletter was sent out May 21st. Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here:http://eepurl.com/bjalx5

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Two years ago Shel Israel and I were putting the final touches on our book, “Age of Context.” We tried to predict where the mobile world would go (and since mobile is how many humans connect to the Internet, has a big impact on the future of business).

What are contextual systems? They are ones that change depending on the users’ context. You know, your mobile phone and watch should behave differently depending on whether you are in a business meeting, watching a movie, exercising, dancing at a night club, or eating a meal. Doing that would require gathering data from email, from calendar, from searches, from s... more »

Reprinted: Life and Tech #7: Learnings from the Age of Context

This email newsletter was sent out May 21st. Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here:http://eepurl.com/bjalx5

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Two years ago Shel Israel and I were putting the final touches on our book, “Age of Context.” We tried to predict where the mobile world would go (and since mobile is how many humans connect to the Internet, has a big impact on the future of business).

What are contextual systems? They are ones that change depending on the users’ context. You know, your mobile phone and watch should behave differently depending on whether you are in a business meeting, watching a movie, exercising, dancing at a night club, or eating a meal. Doing that would require gathering data from email, from calendar, from searches, from sensors you are wearing and holding or walking near. When we wrote the book, Google Now had already been out for a few months. I thought it was the beginning of a new wave of computing.

Right after the book went to press Bluetooth Smart Low Energy Beacons went live (most of the press called them iBeacons, after Apple’s marketing and software layer on top of these little radios, but that wasn’t correct). These little radios spit three numbers into the air. Your phone can tell how close it is to them. They cost less than $10 each in quantities. Run on small batteries for longer than a year.

I thought we had totally nailed a new trend and that we’d look like brilliant futurists, predicting a crazy always-surveilled big data future.

That fantastic future largely hasn’t shown up, though.

Perfect example - Google Glass. Our cover has a guy wearing a pair. They certainly haven’t proven to be popular on the street. Another great example -- beacon technology. The beacon/contextual world largely hasn’t shown up, despite Coachella having 160 of them on the field during its music festival.

Why not?

Well, after every speech I’ve given since then, where I detail all the fantabulous things that are happening, where even baby bottles have sensors in them, I ask the audience “how many of you are freaked out by this new world?” It’s consistent that 1/3rd of the hands go up. That attitude toward privacy is borne out by this Pew Report: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/05/20/americans-attitudes-about-privacy-security-and-surveillance/

When working on the book I thought that utility would solve this problem and would convince people to jump on board. That hasn’t proven true in a major way and it’s leading to a new divide between people who are “all in” and people who are resisting this new “always watching” technology.

It also is leading tech companies like Apple, to ignore contextual technology. The Apple Watch, for instance, doesn’t behave differently depending on where you are, which is a real shame because it keeps lighting up even when I’m in a movie.

My opinion matches Sam Song Liang’s. He writes, on my Facebook post where I ask about lessons learned from the Age of Context, “On privacy, a simple question I ask people is this: compared to 30 years ago, before Google, Facebook, mobile phones, do people have more or less privacy now? Do most people prefer the life now or 30 years ago?” https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153290494034655

...and why not? Because while Facebook does gather a TON of data about where you are reading it, and who you are, it has actually moved to close down APIs instead of opening them up thanks to those privacy fears.

Also, the operating system itself just isn’t opening up like I had hoped it would on both Android and Apple’s mobile OS’s. On Apple, developers still can’t talk to the dialer, nor the wifi radios, in a real way that would allow better contextual apps to be built. Yes, there are companies like NewAer who are trying to provide radio-based context.

Go back to the learnings from Coachella about beacons, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUJ8Hu-KELs&feature=youtu.be

First you have to get someone to load your app. Then you need to get them to turn on Bluetooth (which means they need to think about battery life and privacy). Then you need them to turn on notifications, which, in the best of cases, will mostly be informative and have utility. But as my Apple Watch is teaching me, most notifications are spammy intrusions into what you are trying to do.

That’s a lot that’s holding back our age of context.

Why do I say that there’s a new divide? Well, I was at a “Live in the Vineyard” concert in Napa last year. Sitting next to me was an insurance salesman from Chicago who didn’t know who I was. I started talking to him about his new Samsung phone and he said “I love Google Now. The more I tell it about myself, the more it helps me.”

Just look at the sentiment around Facebook Messenger here: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153289914964655 Some, like me, really love the app. Others are very afraid of it and refuse to use it. I don’t know how this divide gets settled, but it is something to note for those of us who are building technologies for our companies.

In talking with my friends and people in the tech industry, there are fans of this new “give a bunch of data over to companies so they can do stuff with it for us” world. But there aren’t enough cases to get most people over into this world and our fears hold us back.

Other lessons? In the Internet of Things world there are still multiple standards that are being discussed/decided on, and hooking up to them is taking unique technology that costs. I visited Golgi.io to see its new system that makes building apps for mobile/IoT connections much easier: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153288810404655/

Also, this week I visited Wearable World, to get a good feel for the state of that market in the post-Apple watch era. I agree with Francine Hardaway’s wrap up, here:https://medium.com/@hardaway/wearables-still-waiting-for-their-day-in-the-consumer-sun-5d1a774f1f54 It seems a lot of the excitement has left the building, but there are still a bunch of companies slogging it out, building new sensors and trying to find new, as yet unserved, markets. That said, our short attention spans have moved onto sexier things like virtual reality, drones, and robots. Last weekend I took my family to the very crowded 10th Annual Maker Faire. The most crowded booth? It was the “Game of Drones” booth where they were fighting drones.

Pro cam system. Up to $1 million for a sports stadium. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153290637224655/ 3D-4U.

Why do I care so much about 360-degree cameras and virtual reality headsets? Because they blow me away. I think the rest of you will see what I’m talking about next year.

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OpenStack had its big summit this week and here’s Rackspace’s architect Adrian Otto and others talking about new container support. The future of the cloud is containers and this video shows off what’s changing. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153290664189655

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Will Uber bans lead to a new political movement?

In San Antonio the city banned Lyft and Uber. This week 700 people showed up to see if they could get support for technology and entrepreneurial-support initiatives. http://therivardreport.com/satechbloc-draws-huge-launch-crowd-to-pearl/ I think this is very positive. Everytime I see a city ban Uber I think “there’s corruption.” Certainly not taking a point of view that’s very consumer focused. I hope this effort bears some fruit.

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I read all my email at scobleizer@gmail.com and anything done in response to this newsletter goes to the top of my inbox. I’m also at +1-425-205-1921 or on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble. Please let me know how I, or Rackspace, the leading managed cloud company, can be of service to you. Thanks too to Hugh Macleod and team for helping me do art each week for this. We love his work!

Please pass this newsletter around. If you have gotten it, you can subscribe (or unsubscribe) here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5﻿___

This email newsletter was sent out May 28th. Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here:http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 Since this newsletter was sent out, rumors have started swirling that Google Glass will be reintroduced soon as an "Enterprise Edition." This makes sense, since there is demand for these things from people like doctors, trainers, or other enterprise workers that don't care about how they mess with people's social contract. Anyway, read on...

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Another look at Google Glass

When watching something like this morning’s Google IO keynote I think “what do people who are trying to build companies need to know?” Then “what do I care about?”

This email newsletter was sent out May 28th. Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here:http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 Since this newsletter was sent out, rumors have started swirling that Google Glass will be reintroduced soon as an "Enterprise Edition." This makes sense, since there is demand for these things from people like doctors, trainers, or other enterprise workers that don't care about how they mess with people's social contract. Anyway, read on...

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Another look at Google Glass

When watching something like this morning’s Google IO keynote I think “what do people who are trying to build companies need to know?” Then “what do I care about?”

First, let’s get the “what do I care about” out of the way first?

Earlier this week, for CNET, I did an editorial about where Google Glass went wrong.https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153307142234655 CNET also covered what went wrong in a separate article:https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153304345879655 Hint, we didn’t see anything about the future of Google Glass today at Google IO (which I think is a real bummer, but understandable since Google Glass has a black eye right now). Makes me sad when thinking about the startups and enterprises that bet on Glass (Boeing and a few hospitals are still using them). Instead Google took us into a world of VR, showing off Expeditions and a new VR camera that most of us can neither afford, nor use. The editorial got a lot of praise, though, so you might enjoy reading my wrapup of my experience wearing Google Glass for more than a year.

The two things that I have seen that interest me the most are Google Now on Tap, which is even more contextual than before. They showed listening to a song by Skrillex and asking it “what is his real name?” and it understood and gave the right answer. Very cool.http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/28/google-now-on-tap/

The other thing that was most important to me, was the development of an Internet of Things API named Brillo. I have to get a closer look at this but it looks like it could really help open up new kinds of devices to integrate with Google’s other efforts. Will Apple have its own answer in a few weeks at its developer conference? Will both work together? These are things we’ll have to work out: http://www.theverge.com/…/google-project-brillo-iot-google-…

For businesses, the new Inbox probably is something you should check out. It now works with Gmail and Google’s Apps. http://venturebeat.com/…/google-opens-inbox-to-everyone-ad…/ I’ve moved my Gmail into there and have been using it since it came out. It takes some time to get used to, but overall saves me a lot of time because of Gmail’s filters. It filters out stuff like social email, or promotional email, into tabs, titled such, which keeps my inbox cleaner. I can’t use email clients that don’t support this.

Other stuff that’s worthy to consider:

Google announces Expeditions, VR field trips for schools. Not sure this translates to businesses, but I can see something like this becoming a big deal for travel industry: http://www.fastcompany.com/…/hey-kids-google-wants-you-to-g…

Google announces Google Photos. More and more I’m using automatic uploads on Flickr, Google+, Facebook, and Dropbox. Google has better algorithms to make your photos look better and obviously has better search features. I need a week with this before I really can say it’s good or not, but if you are a photographer you should try it out when available (as of this afternoon I still couldn’t get it on my iPhone): http://venturebeat.com/…/google-photos-launches-with-unlim…/

Google launches Polymer. Those of you with development teams building both web and mobile versions probably should look into this. Makes it easier to build apps for both with common look and feel:http://venturebeat.com/…/google-launches-polymer-1-0-lets-…/

Last night I met with Yallo’s CEO, Yosi Taguri, who is building a new phone dialer app from his Tel Aviv offices. It’s gotten note on Android because it adds a bunch of features to the phone. Coming in a month to iOS.https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/vb.501319654/10153308227484655/?type=2&theater

Off camera we talked about development. He carries five mobile phones, and pointed out what was wrong with all of his Android devices. Matches what I hear from other CEOs. They might be forced to use Android because of the market size, but like using iOS better. In his case it’s worse because Android is more open, so lets him do more things.

He decided to develop on Android first, though, for a few reasons:

1. The market is much bigger, especially in developing world, where he thinks there’s more demand for better phone features.

2. His development team ships updates every few hours. On Apple that’s impossible to do because Apple wants to check out each update, a process that can take longer than two weeks. On Android that’s just how it works and updates get pushed right to end users immediately. This let him work with customers to fix bugs, and add features, quicker. Now that he has a great product that people love, he’s making an iOS version.

We also talked about Facebook’s new UI that it was testing. I saw it only for a few hours on May 24th here:https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153300262889655?pnref=story Turns out that it’s using a new A/B testing methodology, described here “React Native: Facebook takes another stab at fixing app development.” http://arc.applause.com/…/facebook-app-developers-react-na…/ Yosi raved about this, saying it gives developers, like him, build one UI, test it, and deliver it to both Android and iOS. He says the engineering work Facebook is doing here shouldn’t be missed.

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Speaking of Facebook, on Monday I wrote up 21 tips and it got shared 3,723 times as of this afternoon:https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153302327124655 I still think Facebook is the most important social network, even though I post my newsletter to LinkedIn and still interact a lot on Twitter. If you want Facebook to work well for you, try using these tips. Particularly send these to your social media team. They will help you get more reach and quality engagement, not to mention your inbound feed will be better so you’ll see news and information that actually might matter to you faster. Translation: fewer cat photos and memes. smile emoticon

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Speaking of development, this week I met with TestFairy’s CEO (that video will be up next week). What is that? It’s a new way to test apps. Instead of using Apple’s TestFlight to give apps out to early beta users, you use TestFairy. This then records everything users are doing. Keep in mind this is only for beta testing, not for production users. But this lets developers see how testers are actually using their apps, and when there’s a problem, you can see exactly what’s going on. Another company, Lookback, got hot on Product Hunt this week, because it lets developers share a stream off of an app, which lets them demo apps to new users.https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153307473584655 Good stuff for developers to consider.

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Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Report shipped this week. She’s a venture capitalist at KPCB and her report is always well read by most insiders. Here I tear through the 200 slides and analyze them.https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153307276529655

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Media shakeup. I’m sad that GigaOm has been sold off, in pieces. Doubt that will ever be a big player again. The shocker, this week, though, is that the Verge bought Recode, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher’s new company. The other shocker is how hard it is to build audiences these days. Underscores the effort that Rackspace pays me and Rocky to float around the world looking for the future and recording it for you. I’m off to meet with Plug and Play’s founder, Saeed Amidi, right now. More on that on Facebook later. Why is he important? His incubator has funded hundreds of startups. Then, next week, I’m hanging out with Innovation Endeavors, Eric Schmidt’s VC firm.

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I read all my email at scobleizer@gmail.com and anything done in response to this newsletter goes to the top of my inbox. I’m also at +1-425-205-1921 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble. Please let me know how I, or Rackspace, the leading managed cloud company, can be of service to you. Thanks too to Hugh Macleod and team for helping me do art each week for this. We love his work!

Please pass this newsletter around. If you have gotten it, you can subscribe (or unsubscribe) here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5﻿___

Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 This one was sent out on June 4th.

I just got back from spending two days with Innovation Endeavors at its “Curiosity Camp” in the middle of the redwoods near Santa Cruz.

Rackspace sends me to stuff like this so that I can find new ways of doing business and bring those insights back to the company. This is Eric Schmidt’s VC firm. They are investing in innovations that are changing our world in a range of things from bio medicine, to agriculture, to machine learning.

One commonality behind everyone I met is that they don’t accept that we have to look at the world the same way that we used to. Thanks to technology, many are rethinking, well, everything about their industries. Farmers are planning on a world wh... more »

A NEW WAY OF SEEING (Life and Tech #9)

Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." You can subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5 This one was sent out on June 4th.

I just got back from spending two days with Innovation Endeavors at its “Curiosity Camp” in the middle of the redwoods near Santa Cruz.

Rackspace sends me to stuff like this so that I can find new ways of doing business and bring those insights back to the company. This is Eric Schmidt’s VC firm. They are investing in innovations that are changing our world in a range of things from bio medicine, to agriculture, to machine learning.

One commonality behind everyone I met is that they don’t accept that we have to look at the world the same way that we used to. Thanks to technology, many are rethinking, well, everything about their industries. Farmers are planning on a world where they will have 50 sensors per acre of land. I heard at camp that today most farms don’t have any sensors at all. DuPont is planning on radically changing that over the next decade. Cloud computing, synthetic biology, machine learning and other technologies are shifting how we can look at the world in a big way, in industries that you might not think of.

Just look at the people I’ve met in the past week and how they are looking at their industries differently thanks to a variety of technologies:

Alexander Green of Sugar Cubes: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153324143764655/ He wanted to make a new kind of light display for nightclubs and music festivals. Built his own cubes, added LEDs, and a ton of programming and the result is beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.

…or there is Des Power of Harman: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153317073444655 He runs a billion-dollar business selling speakers and home entertainment products with names like JBL on them. Brought 50 designers to Shenzhen, China, and started winning design awards, not to mention seeing increased sales. Why? Because innovation is about rapid iteration, and locating designers near the factories of Shenzhen shortened the time to get a new product out the door. They now do it in 22 weeks from start to finish.

Asher Levine is one of the top fashion designers in the world. You’ve seen his work on Beyonce, Wil.i.am and many other celebrities. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153324112029655&set=a.458123019654.251938.501319654&type=1 How does he look at the world differently? His mom taught him how to sew when he was six and now he stitches LEDs, sensors, and other technology into clothing for performers.

Anthony Sabbadini, founder of SCTracker, thought there was a new way to “see” supply chains. So, he built this, which shows where products are being built in real time thanks to GPS: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153311873299655/

Janna Bastow, cofounder/CEO of Product Pad, knew there was a better way to track ideas. Her tool lets you prioritize ideas and track them from start to finish.https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153326453309655/

Ash Eldritch, cofounder and CTO at Vital Medicals knew that wearable computers would change how surgery is done. His system lets doctors and surgeons see information right on top of their real-life patients – just picture that for a second –which gives them fewer distractions and helps them perform surgery in huge new ways. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/vb.501319654/10153330329514655 Next Tuesday ODG (the glasses they use) will announce new versions that will help architects and others see the world in new ways too.

Yair Bar-on, founder of TestFairy, knew that developers needed to “see” the feedback from their beta testers in a new way. https://www.facebook.com/yairbaron/posts/10153402041011514 How? Apps delivered to beta testers (not for production) record their users so that developers can do things like go back and learn what part of the app they were using when a crash happened, or look at how a user got stuck, or examine why something didn’t display properly.

SpaceKnow lets you see satellite imagery in a new way. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153330473834655 This impacts governments and companies that want to watch specific places on the earth for, say, economic data.

Richard Titus knew there was a new way to do scheduling and payments for small small time-based businesses, so invented Prompt.ly: https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153326438509655/

Yosi Taguri hated how his phone worked, so invented Yallo, which changes the dialer on Android and adds a ton of useful features, including new ways to see people calling you. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153308227484655/

Ben Larralde wanted to have a different community for Internet of Things, so he developed Hackster. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153311567299655/

Pat White, CEO of Sonata, thinks Enterprise Search needed a fresh approach. https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/videos/10153311545314655/ Cloud technology and machine learning let him look at the problem in a new way.

Can everything be reimaged thanks to technology? I believe so. Even Johnnie Walker whisky is now using IoT technology: http://www.cio.com/article/2926218/innovation/why-johnnie-walker-joined-the-internet-of-things.html

This is just the beginning. Based on what I saw at Curiosity Camp, there’s no sign of this rapid innovation slowing any time soon!

How are you using technology to reimagine your world? Let me know!

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I read all my email at scobleizer@gmail.com and anything done in response to this newsletter goes to the top of my inbox. I’m also at +1-425-205-1921 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble. Please let me know how I, or Rackspace, the leading managed cloud company, can be of service to you. Thanks too to Hugh Macleod and team for helping me do art each week for this. We love his work!

Please pass this newsletter around. If you have gotten it, you can subscribe (or unsubscribe) here: http://eepurl.com/bjalx5﻿___

Every week I email out a newsletter named "Life and Tech." About what I'm seeing as I visit innovators around the world. You can subscribe here, this one was sent out June 11th.

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Disclaimer: I love Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), both are highly interesting to me. If they aren’t interesting to you, skip the first section of this newsletter and head down to the future of the cloud section.

(I almost made this about Apple, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk about its music service. Instead I’ll send you to Bob Lefsetz, music industry analyst, who says “it’s toast:” http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2015/06/10/apple-music/That said, the new Watch OS is nice, but won’t matter to most of us until later this year when it ships).